Note: Javascript is disabled or is not supported by your browser. For this reason, some items on this page will be unavailable. For more information about this message, please visit this page: About CDC.gov.

Persons encountering severe stress and remaining healthy were studied in an attempt to determine personality characteristics that decrease the adverse effects of extreme stress. The hypothetical basis of the study was that among persons experiencing considerable stress those who remain healthy will have a sense of commitment rather than alienation from the various aspects of their lives, will believe that they have control over their lives rather than feeling externally controlled, and or will seek novelty and challenge rather than familiarity and security. The subjects included the management personnel of a large metropolitan public utility. Standardized questionnaires on stressful life events and related symptoms returned by the participants were categorized according to stress with illness versus stress without illness. A total of 75 high stress, low illness subjects and 86 high stress, high illness subjects were further assessed for personality dispositions using the Alienation Test, the Internal versus External Locus of Control Scale, the Personality Research Form, and the California Life Goals Evaluation Schedule. Important discriminators between the two groups were alienation from self, vegetativeness, nihilism, perception of financial stress, perception of personal stress, perception of interpersonal stress, social desirability, achievement, leadership, interest in novel experiences, and endurance. The results were discussed in relation to implications for the treatment of employee stress syndromes.